Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the recommendations in the published findings of the board of inquiry intothe death of Sergeant Steven Roberts in March 2003, whether changes have now been made inthe annual individual training of members of the Armed Forces to ensure that they are aware of the ballistic qualities of high-velocity ballistic plates issued as part of enhanced combat body armour; and
	Further to the recommendations in the published findings of the board of inquiry into the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts in March 2003, what steps have been taken to ensure that training establishments and units of the Armed Forces are educated in the importance of issuing to troops correctly fitting enhanced combat body armour.

Lord Drayson: Service personnel and those manning unit quartermasters' departments are frequently reminded of the need to ensure that that all issued equipment and clothingis correctly fitted, sized and serviceable in orderto maintain the operational effectiveness of the individual wearing it, including enhanced combat body armour (ECBA) and other forms of body armour.
	All soldiers deploying on operations to Iraq and Afghanistan are provided with ECBA, as a minimum level of protection. As a consequence, all Army personnel will utilise ECBA during the various phases of their pre-operational training, a part of which ensures that soldiers are educated in the ballistic capability of the high-velocity plates as well as the importance of the correct sizing and fitting of ECBA.
	In addition, it is mandated that ECBA is worn by all personnel undertaking live fire tactical training exercises. During this training the ballistic capabilities of ECBA and requirement for its correct fitting are again emphasised.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information is not available in the format requested. The information available is set out below.
	Estimates from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) 2004-05 indicate that approximately 100,000 people are in receipt of incapacity benefit, but not the middle or higher rate care component of disability living allowance, and are receiving care for 20 hours or more a week.
	These data also suggest that approximately 300,000 people are receiving the lower rate of disability living allowance and are receiving care for 20 hours or more a week.
	The FRS does not allow all these people to be matched to the people providing care, some of whom will qualify for the basic state pension and state second pension.
	Further, the FRS does not allow us to identify reasons for the receipt of benefits.
	Information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) shows the number and proportion of people who are receiving incapacity benefit and the lower rate of disability living allowance because they suffer from mental ill health. There are around 366,000 people in receipt of incapacity benefits with the lower rate of disability living allowance. Of these, around 108,000 are receiving incapacity benefits due to mental and behavioural disorders (at May 2006). The WPLS does not hold information about people receiving care for 20 hours or more a week.
	(The Pensions Bill, introduced on 28 November 2006, will help more people build up better state pensions. Around three-quarters of women reaching state pension age in 2010 will get full basic state pension under the Bill, rising to over 90 per cent by 2025. The Bill will also allow around 1 million extra people (over 90 per cent of whom are women) to accrue entitlement to the state second pension.)
	Notes for information from the Family Resources Survey
	1. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 100,000, and are based on self-reported information. 2. Information from the Family ResourcesSurvey relates to a point in time, so may not be representative of activity during the year.3. People who are receiving incapacity benefit and lower rate disability allowance and receive care for 20 or more hours a week may appear in both estimates from the FRS.4. The Family Resources Survey does not record information on individuals in retirement homes or nursing homes.
	Notes for information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.2. DLA cases are defined as cases in payment.3. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, published by the World Health Organisation.

Court Martial: Sergeant Selman and Others

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 11 October 2004 (WA 21) concerning the organisation Zimbabwean Community in the United Kingdom, when the investigations made by the Immigration Service were completed; and what conclusions were reached.

Lord Drayson: The solicitorsfor Sergeant Selman employed a translator who undertook translation work both prior to and during the trial. The translations were made available to the other defence teams. A solicitor for one of the other defendants was able to read and write Arabic.

Energy: Renewables

Baroness Andrews: The Written Ministerial Statement of 8 June 2006 on planning policy statement 22 (PPS22) encouraged local planning authorities to take account fully of the positive approach to renewables set out in PPS22, including in paragraph 8. In doing so, the Government made clear that all planning authorities are expected to include policies in their development plans that require a percentage of the energy in new developments to come from on-site renewables where it is viable. Appropriate technologies and their potential will, however, vary from place to place and with the type and scale of development envisaged. Actual production of renewable energy will vary according to the level of energy need arsing in the developments in question. It is, therefore, extremely hard to forecast with any degree of accuracy the production of renewable energy to be expected from paragraph 8of PPS22.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The third Outline National Changeover Plan (oNCP3) was publishedin June 2003 and provides a comprehensive statement of how the Government would manage a UK changeover. This document and other central planning documents for a possible euro changeover are available on the Treasury's euro website (www.euro.gov.uk). The Euro Preparations Unit in the Treasury focuses on maintaining these documents and a network of expert stakeholders from allsectors. Costs are met from within the Treasury's departmental expenditure limit.

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Truscott on 30 November (WA 79), whether they propose to withdraw the statement that the minutes of the Royal British Legion's Gulf group meeting held on 5 September misrecorded the group's discussion and were in error, given that the group's members have confirmed that the minutes were a correct record; and whether they will now respond to the original Question; and
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Truscott on 30 November (WA 79), what precedents there are for a Minister of the Crown to inform the Royal British Legion (RBL) of an error in the minutes of a meeting of the RBL, or that of another voluntary organisation, without having consulted the organisation, when the minutes were confirmed as a correct record by those who attended; and whether they intend to apologise to the Royal British Legion in this instance.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The information requested is in the table. Data for 2000 are not available on a comparative basis.
	
		
			 Year Total number of prescription items (000s) Estimated number of prescription items dispensed to children (000s) Estimated number of prescription items dispensed to adults (000s) 
			 2001 12,085.1 150 12,000 
			 2002 13,304.0 170 13,000 
			 2003 13,816.9 170 14,000 
			 2004 14,312.0 143 14,000 
			 2005 14,746.1 130 15,000 
			 Source: Prescription cost analysis (PCA) data from the prescription pricing division of the NHS Business Services Authority 
		
	
	Prescription cost analysis data cover all prescription items that were dispensed in the community in England. They do not include items dispensed in hospitals or private prescriptions.
	Due to rounding, the sum of the components may not equal the total items.

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 19 December (WA 292), whether the lack of provision to meet the needs of persons withsevere mental and physical impairment in the Northern Ireland draft planning policy statement of 16 March (PPS14) amounts to discrimination.

Lord Rooker: While draft planning policy statement 14 does not have any specific policies for persons with severe mental and physical impairment, it is felt that their needs are largely addressed by policy HOU16 (House Extensions) in A Planning Strategy for Rural Northern Ireland. This allows for house extensions to provide partially self-contained accommodation for elderly or dependant relatives. Draft PPS14 and its equality impact assessment have been subject to consultation and this issue will be reconsidered in the preparation of the final policy.

Lord Rooker: Policy HOU16 (House Extensions) allows for house extensions to provide partially self-contained accommodation for elderly or dependant relatives. Exclusive reliance is not placed on this policy as the Planning Service is required to assess planning applications fully against all relevant plans and policies. This issue has been raised in the consultation on draft PPS14 and will be reconsidered in the preparation of the final policy.

Lord Rooker: Former civil servants of the Republic of Ireland employed in north/south implementation bodies are either (i) those who were designated and transferred on the basis and under the terms provided for in Part 7, paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3, of the international agreement done on 8 March 1999 establishing the bodies and the relevant enabling legislation (the British-Irish Agreement Act 1999 in the Republic of Ireland and the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999), or (ii) those who were recruited directly to the body and to whom the normal terms and conditions of the body, as approved by the NSMC, apply, as they would to any applicant whois employed through open competition. On this latter point, the relevant NSMC approval was given on26 September 2000 and terms are attached in the following table.
	Terms applying to direct recruits to bodies in Northern Ireland.
	The terms (including remuneration) which apply to staff of the bodies are based on those pertaining within the civil services, north and south, depending on the jurisdiction where the post is located.
	
		
			 Key non-pay terms 
			 Hours of work Minimum of 42 hours (over a five-day week) for a full-time post including daily meal break of one hour 
			 Annual leave Maximum of 30 days (30 days as standard for chief executives) 
			 Public and privilege holidays 12 days 
			 Sick pay Up to six months at full pay and six months at half pay subject to a ceiling of 12 months' sick pay in any period of four years 
			 Pension North/south pension scheme 
			 Maternity leave 18 weeks 
			 Paternity leave Minimum two days; maximum three days 
			 Notice Minimum five weeks; maximum 13 weeks 
			 Age of retirement Minimum normal pensionable age of 60; maximum retirement age of 65 
			 Compensation for early termination of contract Scheme being prepared by UK Government Actuary's Department on behalf of finance departments will be submitted to the NSMC for approval 
			 Medical retirement North/south pension scheme

Lord Adonis: Childhood obesity is a serious issue, both in terms of the range of health problems it is associated with and the cost burden it places on the NHS and the UK economy.
	To tackle this problem, the Government have set a public service agreement target,
	"to halt, by 2010, the year-on-year increase in obesity among children under 11 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as whole".
	This target is the joint responsibility of the Secretary of State for Health, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
	There is no single cause of obesity but at its core is an imbalance between calories in and calories out. As such, there is no one intervention for obesity and a wide variety of government programmes make a valuable contribution to tackling it. Joint cross-departmental programme management arrangements have been established to drive action to meet this target which will be delivered using a three-tiered approach:
	universal programmes aimed at prevention;
	early intervention for those at risk of being overweight/obese; and
	targeted health interventions for those already obese.
	The first tier comprises universal programmes aimed at reversing obesity trends and creating a positive environment for healthy eating and physical activity. Policy initiatives within this tier includethe Healthy Schools programme, the "5 a Day" campaign, the Healthy Start scheme, the school fruit and vegetable scheme, statutory nutritional standards for food in schools, restrictions on the advertising and food promotion to children of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, increasing the amount of time pupils spend on high quality PE and school sport, and encouraging walking and cycling to school through school travel plans and walking-bus schemes.
	The second tier comprises early interventions targeted at groups of children (and their parents) at higher risk of being overweight and obese. For example, we will be working with school sports partnerships in areas of higher obesity prevalence to engage overweight/obese children in physical activity, and we have agreed in principle an objective with the School Food Trust to similarly target some of their activity.
	The third tier comprises public health treatment interventions specifically aimed at helping obese children and families to lose weight and become healthier. We will be working with PCTs, local authorities, schools and other delivery partners to ensure that recommendations from the new clinical guidance on the treatment of obesity, published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in December last year, are developed and incorporated in our approach.
	In the spring we will be launching a social marketing campaign aimed at influencing behaviour change in parents and encouraging them to build healthier lifestyles for their children and families.
	Fundamental to the success of the programme will be the need to work in partnership with public bodies, the private sector, individuals and families (notably children and parents), and ensure obesity interventions are based on the best available evidence using an action-learning approach.
	Obesity is now included as a performance management indicator within the performance management framework for PCTs, and we are encouraging local authorities to include measures to reduce childhood obesity in their local area agreements.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Information about the proportion of abnormal loads on motorways that are escorted by the police is not available.
	The number of abnormal loads escorted by the police has reduced significantly since the introduction of self-escorting in 2004, following recommendations by the Policing Bureaucracy Taskforce. The police continue to provide escorting services for a relatively small number of the largest and heaviest abnormal loads in circumstances when traffic control is required.
	Information relating to the number of night-time abnormal load moves that have taken place in 2005 and 2006 is not available.
	The Highways Agency grants permission for the largest and heaviest loads to move after consultation with the police, highway authorities and other appropriate bodies. In these cases, consideration is given to the movement of abnormal loads at night provided it is safe to do so and where possibleto minimise congestion. Network conditions and planned roadworks are considered alongside other relevant factors.

Lord Rooker: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the noble Lord in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin to Lord Laird dated January 2007.
	You recently asked Her Majesty's Governmenta Parliamentary Question about what plans theyhave to introduce traffic-calming measures on the connecting roads between the Belmont and Upper Newtownards road in Belfast. As this issue falls within my responsibility as chief executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
	I can advise that in recent years Roads Servicehas carried out assessments on the following roads, which run between Belmont Road and Upper Newtownards Road, to help determine the needto introduce traffic-calming measures: Wandsworth Road; Earlswood Road; Belmont Church Road; and Ormiston Crescent.
	At Wandsworth Road, the assessment produceda score sufficient to warrant the inclusion of ascheme in the 2004-05 traffic-calming programme of works. However, Roads Service received a petition, representing a significant number of residents of the road, objecting to the proposed measures. Given the level of opposition, it was considered unlikelythat the legislative process could be completed without recourse to a public inquiry, which, as you will appreciate, would require considerable input from Roads Service staff and would compromise the ability to deliver traffic-calming schemes in other areas. In these circumstances, it was decided to target our limited resources for this type of work to sites where the greatest benefits could be achieved in terms ofthe successful implementation of a traffic-calming scheme.
	In Earlswood Road and Belmont Church Road, scores from assessments were sufficient to merit the inclusion of schemes in the current traffic-calming programme of works and I am informed that initial residents' consultation has been completed and the legislative process has commenced. However, I understand that a number of objections to the proposals have been received and that these are currently being addressed.
	An initial assessment of Ormiston Crescent has indicated that a traffic-calming scheme at this location would not be highly placed compared with other sites on the traffic-calming programme and other sites waiting to be treated. While Roads Service has no plans to construct traffic-calming measures at this site at present, it will continue to be considered for possible inclusion in future programmes.

Lord Rooker: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the noble Lord in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin to Lord Laird dated January 2007.
	You recently asked Her Majesty's Government a Parliamentary Question regarding what plans they have to improve traffic flow through Dungiven in County Londonderry. As this issue falls within my responsibility as chief executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
	As you may be aware, on 13 December 2005, the Secretary of State announced that a £250 million scheme to dual the A6 between Londonderry and Dungiven was being added to the major roadworks forward planning schedule. This 30 kilometre dualling scheme, which will include a bypass of Dungiven, will be the biggest single road scheme ever built in Northern Ireland.
	Roads Service had already commissioned consultants to identify a corridor for the future dualling of the A6 between Castledawson and Londonderry and it is envisaged that this study,which will be completed shortly, will inform the development of the A6 Londonderry to Dungiven section.
	The bypass of Dungiven will greatly improve journey times on this route and will undoubtedly improve traffic flow through the town. While it will be several years before all the statutory proceduresare completed, it is hoped that construction of the scheme will commence in the latter half of the regional strategic transport network transport plan 2015 period, ie between 2010 and 2015.
	In the mean time, Roads Service will enforce parking restrictions in Dungiven to improve traffic flow and will continue to consider other methods of safely improving traffic flow.

Lord Rooker: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the noble Lord in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin to Lord Laird dated January 2007.
	You recently asked Her Majesty's Government a Parliamentary Question about whether they have proposals to build a bypass around Enniskillen in County Fermanagh; and, if so, what they are. As this issue falls within my responsibility as chief executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
	I am pleased to advise that a proposal for a3.2 kilometre-long single carriageway bypass to the south of Enniskillen was included in the consultation document Expanding the Strategic Road Improvement Programme (ESRIP). The consultation period for this £400 million package of major road upgrades ran for a nine-week period, closing on 29 September 2006. In excess of 80 responses were received and, while analysis of the feedback is ongoing, I can advise that it included support for the A4 Enniskillen southern bypass.
	The expanded programme is part of the investment strategy for Northern Ireland, which envisages the additional funding to be available towards the end of the period between now and 2015. Once the ESRIPis finalised, each scheme will be progressed on a measure-by-measure basis, subject to detailed economic appraisal, clearing the relevant statutory procedures and the availability of funds through the normal budgetary processes.

Lord Rooker: The number of suicides in police custody in Northern Ireland in 1981 cannot be provided because to do so could be done only at disproportionate cost. This is because to collate this information would involve making a request to each of the 29 district command units asking for a trawl of any manual records held. Therefore we are unable to supply the information requested.
	The PSNI now records "deaths in custody" electronically. However, a verdict of suicide can be determined only at an inquest.
	For the figure of suicides in prison custodyeach year since 1980, I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I provided on 31 October 2006. In addition, 10 individuals died in custody following a hunger strike in 1981.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Most support for transport is provided to local authorities in England through revenue support grant, although the Department for Transport also provides a few specific grants. The main grant determinations are posted on the department's website.
	Several of these grants, for example rural bus grant, provide continuing rather than single-year support. Some support for specific major investments is made by allowing sufficient provision within revenue support grant to enable the authority to borrow. There is thus no clear category of one-off grants.
	The department's annual reports summarisethe support it has provided to local authorities: www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_611668.hcsp.
	Substantial grants, together with provisions affecting revenue support grant, include:
	the local transport capital settlement(www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_localtrans/documents/divisionhomepage/032393.hcsp). These are listed by authority in the Answer to an earlier Question tabled by the noble Lord and was placed in the Libraries of the House on 18 January 2006 (PQ2957 05/06)road safety grant(www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_614061.pdf)rural bus subsidy grant(www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_localtrans/documents/paqe/dft_localtrans_610994.hcsp)Kickstart(www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_localtrans/documents/page/dft_localtrans_610191.hcsp)maintenance of detrunked roads(www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_611492.hcsp)

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answers by Lord Rooker on 19 December (WA 310), whether, in light ofthe one prosecution in response to 41 infringements of tree preservation orders in a three-year period, they remain committed to environmental protection.